It is the Mission of the Nebraska Family Forum (NFF) to promote education policies in our state that preserve and protect parental authority and the integrity of the family. In so doing, we will preserve the cooperative and respectful relationship between school authorities and parents, preserve a family-centered community, and provide a well-rounded education for our kids.

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Nebraska's "Excessive Absenteeism" Law Targets Special Needs Children

The following story was written by a Lincoln, Nebraska couple whose 10-year-old autistic daughter was targeted by Lincoln Public Schools, the Lancaster County Attorney's Office, and Child Protective Services under the guise of preventing "excessive absenteeism." In order to protect their daughter, and because of the ongoing threat from CPS, the family wishes to remain anonymous at this time.

During the 2012-13 school year, our child missed over
20 days of school. This was a
combination of partial and full days. Because
she missed over 20 days, we were served by the county sheriff to appear in
court. The count against us stated that
we lack proper parental care and failed to ensure our child’s regular and
timely attendance at school. It also
stated these absences from school are negatively affecting our child’s
educational progress.

We received our summons in June, 2013. That week, we attempted several times to reach
the county attorney assigned to our case, Daniel J. Zieg, to explain our
situation.He did not return any of our
phone calls, so we emailed him. Here is
a transcription of our email from June 20, 2013:

I am requesting that you dismiss (our case number). This is a
result of our (child) missing more than 20 days of school during the previous
school year. All of her absences were excused absences for either medical
reasons or because our family was out of town. We informed the school prior to the
school year and during the school year about the dates our family was going to
be out of town. All homework and projects were completed on time. (Our child)
is on the autism spectrum, and many of the absences were because of emotional
or medical reason related to her autism. Some of her absences were partial days
and some were full days. Reasons include doctor appointments, therapy and
autism symptoms (high anxiety, migraines, vomiting, etc.). (Our child) also
missed about a week of school because one of the paras (who has now been
dismissed from the school) caused (our child) to have great stress and anxiety.
As a result, she self-inflicted herself in her throat and had to receive
medical attention. (Our child) continually gets good grades and no teachers
have complaints about her. We are active parents in our kids’ education and
well being. We can provide documentation
related to the family trips, medical appointments, autism diagnosis, etc. We appreciate your understanding.

Mr. Zieg responded to our email the next day. This is his response:

At this point I am not willing to dismiss. I am concerned
that (your child) is being pulled from school to go on family trips.
Family trips are not an excused absence. A family needs to exercise
discretion in pulling a child from their mandatory school program to go on a
trip, especially when the child is autistic as they need a structured daily
program. The information I have from the school indicates they informed
you that another family trip would put you over 20 days of absence however you
still chose to take the trip.

This was our email response:

I appreciate the response. I
forgot to clarify that the times we were out of town were related to my work,
and we did not have control of the dates. This was unique this last school
year. It had not occurred prior to this year, and we don't see that happening
again in the future. Prior to the school year, the school said that it would be
OK to take (our child) on the business trips so we planned accordingly. It is
difficult finding someone to watch her with her autism. She is more comfortable
being with us.

We did not hear another word or get another response
from the county attorney.

The next day, a case worker with the Nebraska
Department of Health and Human Services (Child Protective Services) came to our
house. We were not home, but he left his
business card with a hand written note on the back of the card that read: Could
you please call me as soon as you can. We called him, and he stated that he wanted to
interview us and our child – separately! We told him no and that we were going to
retain an attorney. The next day, he
called our house again, insisting that he interview us and our child.Again, we told him no and that we were going
to retain an attorney.

A couple days later, I did retain a private
attorney. We appeared in court in July
2013. Present in the court room were two
case workers from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human
Services, an attorney from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human
Services, the county attorney handling our case, the judge, the court reporter
and an employee of Legal Aid as Guardian ad Litem for the minor child. That’s seven people paid by our tax dollars to
appear in court for our case!

Before entering the courtroom, one of the case workers
from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services made a comment to us that
we shouldn’t even be there.I asked then why were we there, but did not get a response.

Our attorney requested that the case be continued
until October 2013. All parties agreed
and an October 16 court date was set.For three months, we were under enormous stress because of the
accusations of neglect against us.Our
attorney told us that he attempted to contact the county attorney numerous
times but never received a response.On
the morning of our October 16 court appearance, the county attorney finally
notified our attorney that our case was dismissed.Back in June, our case was urgent enough that
CPS was called, but suddenly our case is so unimportant that it was dismissed? Why is that?What was the county attorney trying to accomplish?Was he trying to intimidate us into never
keeping our daughter home from school again?

On October 22, a few days after our case was
officially dismissed by the county attorney and the judge, we received another
call from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services case worker
asking to interview our child again – knowing full well our case had been
dismissed. We told him no. We notified our attorney. This infuriates us! Why are we continuing to be harassed after our
case was dismissed?

Here are some excerpts from a Nebraska Legislature
Judiciary Committee hearing on February 13, 2012 regarding the truancy law.
This was the hearing to discuss the amendment to LB800. Senator Brad Ashford,
the Senator behind this law, stated that “It
was never the intent of this committee that the 20-day review be some
prosecutorial effort to bring unexcused students into one big group with
excused absences and start throwing them into the juvenile system.”During that same hearing, Alicia Henderson of
the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office stated that their office is dismissing
referrals that are excused for illness and travel with parents.This is obviously a lie!

So the bottom line is we had to spend nearly
$1000 for a private attorney for something we had worked out with the school,
as well as endure months of fear and stress for no reason. The school knows our family situation and our
child’s special needs, yet they chose to turn our ten-year-old autistic
daughter over to law enforcement.Worse
yet, the county attorney decided to file charges and someone even filed a CPS
report, as if we are abusive parents because we chose to take our special needs
child with us on a business trip!

We are
not against education. We have college
degrees ourselves. We are against this ridiculous law and its complete
infringement on parental rights!

How dare Lincoln Public Schools and a
young county attorney (who appears to be fresh out of law school) presume to
judge the decisions we make in the best interests of our own child!How dare a county attorney tell us, the
parents, that our daughter shouldn’t go on a trip with us because autistic
children need a “structured daily program”!He doesn’t know what our child needs, we do.He is a prosecutor who has never met our
child, we are her parents who have raised her and loved her and advocated for
her needs her entire life. They are
threatening our life!

And think of all the tax dollars wasted
on our case alone. These dollars could be better used to help our Nebraska
kids, especially kids with special needs.

This law is wrong and it needs to be
repealed.I have a meeting scheduled
with our state senator and we will be sharing our story and asking her to help
get rid of this terrible law that has harmed our family and many others.

UPDATE:

On October 26, we received certified mail from the
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The letter stated that the
case against us was considered “unfounded.” The report wewere
named in was alleging Physical Neglect of our daughter. Are you kidding me?
PhysicalNeglect because we took her on
our business trips and because she missed school for medical reasons! This is
absurd! The definition of Physical Neglect on the Nebraska Department of Health
and Human Services’ Web site is when a parent does not provide basic needs or a
safe place to live. This is a complete lie!

3 comments:

Isn't that something how they can have 7 people (who are paid by the taxpayers) for a court date that was truly uncalled for. This whole thing is just a boat-load of job security for all those people. Why would they NOT want to continue going after people. Their jobs are secure if they have someone they are "pretending' to go after. Then in he end it is all called off. What a crock of s***t.

Praying for you and your family. Way too often, the "systems" seem to find that one open crack and have to push and push and push. However, there are so many children in the system that are honestly being ignored and forgotten, that they are being abandoned by those that are there to help them. Your family did not need this "help" when instead other children could have been helped during this time. What an awful waste of time, money, and breath, not to mention the harassment upon your family and the mental anguish your child may feel. I pray your story helps your family and others!

Sorry to rabble rouse, but I honestly think that until people like you and others who have had similar run-ins with these jokers join in a class action law suit against this sort of blatant harassment, it won't stop. There, I said it. Maybe somewhere there is a decent attorney willing to take on these bullies that isn't looking to fill his or her own pockets at the expense of sick children.

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The Personal Impact of Nebraska's School Attendance Law

We began collecting stories in April of 2011 and will continue to collect them as long as the law is abused. The stories we have collected demonstrate how our community has been impacted by Nebraska's school attendance law that counts all absences rather than "unexcused" absences for purposed of "truancy".

It may seem by the district by district breakdown that the law has impacted Millard Public Schools the most, but it is important to note that the Nebraska Family Forum grew out of the Millard Parent Society and therefore the awareness within Millard Public Schools is longstanding.

Out of the 3000+ cases referred to the Douglas County Attorney last year only 400 came from MPS. For every story collected here it is reasonable to assume that they represent dozens more who are affected who have not written their thoughts in a public way.

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Nebraska Family Forum: What we Stand For

Mission:

It is the Mission of the Nebraska Family Forum (NFF) to promote education policies in our state that preserve and protect parental authority and the integrity of the family. In so doing, we will preserve the cooperative and respectful relationship between school authorities and parents, preserve a family-centered community, and provide a well-rounded education for our kids.

NFF Guiding Principles:

Family is Key: We believe the family is the single most important element to a child’s ability to learn and be successful in school and life, and parents are the foundation upon which family success rests. For this reason, it’s imperative that the state honor the authority of parents as they exercise their natural rights, obligations, and responsibilities to raise, manage, direct, and educate their children.

Freedom in Education is essential: We believe that flexibility in education, school choice, stimulating curriculum, quality teachers, and innovative education reforms are essential to a family centered education. We support policies that will lead to greater parental influence in education innovation, curriculum, and choice.

Family struggles are a healthy part of life: We believe that the fundamental right of a parent does not cease to exist simply because a parent may fail to be a model parent. Parents often struggle to meet the needs of their children, but this is not in itself sufficient cause for unwanted and unwarranted government intrusion into family life. We join with Father Steven Boes of Boys Town in "proclaiming that not only are there no bad boys, as Father Flanagan taught, but there are no bad families.” There is always at least one person in a family that wants what is best for their children and is willing to ask for and receive the help they need.

Government Intrusion can be Harmful: We believe that the right of parents to raise their children without undue government interference is a fundamental liberty that has long been protected by the Constitution of the United States and is not void upon the enrollment of ones child in a public school. We warn that governments who seek to micro-manage the everyday choices of parents in pursuit prescribed outcomes, will do great harm to the integrity of the family and by extension, the well-being of children and society as a whole.

Mother… I think of all the lessons she has modeled for me throughout my life in topics from boys to academia to love in and of family to the meaning of true success… now I heed her lessons in balancing my life, work and passions. All the while, she is my teacher, one with the honored and sacred name of Mother.

Who ran to help me when I fell, And would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the place to make it well? My mother.

The Simple Truths

Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves. ~ Ernest Dimnet

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. ~ Oscar Wilde

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. ~ William Butler Yeats

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. ~ B. F. Skinner

Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading. ~ G. M. Trevelyan

Every educated person is a future enemy. ~ Martin Bormann

I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. ~ Michel de Montaigne

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. ~ Mark Twain

It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. ~ John W. Gardner

No man who worships education has got the best out of education... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding. ~ Ezra Pound

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. ~ Robert M. Hutchins

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. ~ Albert Einstein

To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks. ~ A. A. Milne

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~ Albert Einstein

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. ~ Abraham Lincoln

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. ~aya Angelou

Dad kept us out of school, but school comes and goes. Family is forever.

I hated school. Even to this day, when I see a school bus it's just depressing to me. The poor little kids. ~ Dolly Parton

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. ~George Herbert

Dad kept us out of school, but school comes and goes. Family is forever.

"The amount of freedom to which a person is entitled is strictly measured by the amount of freedom he is willing to allow his fellow man." ~ Verlan Andersen

"You complain of bad city government. It is ultimately the fault of the people themselves if it is bad... In no way can you bring about decency in your Government so quickly as by backing up the men (and women) who represent your interests, rewarding those who are faithful and punishing those who fail in their duty." ~ Theodore Roosevelt